KEXP Reviews

While the freewheeling psychedelic eclecticism of this Chicago rapper’s last album (2002’s Electric Circus) left many long-time fans scratching their heads, he gets back to beats-and-rhymes basics on his sixth album. Hip hop’s man-of-the-moment Kanye West produced 9 of the album’s 11 songs, giving it a much more cohesive sound than the all-over-the-map Electric Circus. Be features Common dropping typically smart, socially conscious rhymes with some vivid street imagery over tight, jazzy ‘70s-influenced grooves for one of this year’s most satisfying hip hop albums. 5/18/2005
- Don Yates